HiDeeHo

Friday, November 07, 2003

IT SMELLS LIKE...

I rediscovered something recently - aromatherapy. I don't pretend to think people can actually get major health benefits from sniffing or dabbing essential oils on themselves like some do, but as far as cheering one up, calming one down, and making one smell quite lovely, it works.

On impulse, I ordered a bunch of 5-, 10- and 15-ml bottles of oils (listed below).

No one will sell me beet pollen.

And for goodness sake, no frigging patchouli. I don't care that it's good for your skin and is supposed to be an aphrodisiac. It smells like a Phish concert without the pot. (Oops...dated myself. I've never been to a Dead show, but I can imagine similar.) Vetiver will take care of that.

There are many flowery and spicy baths in the making for the winter.

If someone asks nicely, they might start getting massages. *grin*

ADDENDUM, 11/10/2003: Whoo! I got my box o' good smells and oh my goodness, I am in smell paradise. I'm also in a whirl of deja vu, because last time I smelled a lot of these things was in 1995.

May I recommend the Saidel Aromatherapy site? I placed my order Friday morning and I got it today in perfect shape. Free shipping and free lavender oil. Good vendor. I don't agree with the marketing of a transdermal weight loss patch but...eh. Who cares! I got my stuff! Fast!

I know what some of my favorite blends are already from previous experience: Orange and lavender, which dries down to smell like a creamsicle, no kidding. Jasmine, lemongrass and balsam peru, with just a smidge of vetiver. Rose and a scrape of cinnamon. Sandalwood, cinnamon and cypress. Rosewood all by itself. Marjoram all by itself. The classic chamomile and lavender. Orange and ginger. Lemongrass and ginger. Vetiver and Peru balsam. Cinnamon, ginger and when I get them, nutmeg and pine. Ah...nice smells make me happy. Some of those are actually good for your skin and mood, but most of them I just blend for aesthetics. If there was another path of practical magic to pursue for me, it would have to be perfumancy.

Again, Josh and Mo will just have to be my guinea pigs as far as my therapeutic hand goes. Mo's having a lavender/chamomile bath tonight as an experiment.

I'll paraphrase Tom Robbins here to wrap up; when Death sucks me down the drain, as it will do to us all, I'll leave a rainbow ring around the tub.

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

You 'll have to pardon me. It's just that I've been overcome with both a stunning case of secrecy and an almost equally stunning case of apathy.

What I can say is this: I have a brilliant kid and a fabulous man. Everything else is none of your business.

Nah, that sounds much bitchier than I meant it. Just assume all is well unless told otherwise.

OH HOLD ON A SECOND...

Ha. No sooner do I post that than I get my knickers in a twist again. This 30-year-old woman, gravida 7 para 6 SAB 1 (7 pregnancies, 6 children, 1 miscarriage) comes in to her OB/GYN because she wants to have yet ANOTHER baby. Jeebus Friggin Krispies. I wonder...do they have a farm? Do they need to breed mightily? Are we running out of babies or something?

I sense the hand of religion in this.

I also sense the unnecessary pressure of the husband in this. Men don't know what bearing children can do to you. All they see is weight gained and lost, breasts going a little further south with each one, maybe some patchy melasma, and depending on who assists in the delivery, either a stitched-up-tight or caboose-loose cooch.

Oh, it's gender-based. This comes later in the report. I should have fucking known. I thought we lived in a place where boy and girl babies were attributed equal status. Apparently not.

But wait, there's more...the woman has a list of medical maladies a mile long, plus an equally long list of medications, including many not safe during pregnancy and about 3 different narcotics. You would think that she'd have her hands full already.

Man, am I glad I'm not her.

OPINION
Before you jump down my throat for whatever reason, let me say that I feel as strongly about overbreeding as some people do about abortion. Certainly it's a choice, but it's a choice you'd never catch me making, not in a million years, and I feel it is often very ill-considered and foolish and dangerous - for the woman, the family in general, and society.

Even if I had my own fertility back, now that I'm with the correct man, I doubt I'd breed just for the sake of it.

Willfully overpopulating is wrong wrong wrong.

I also feel that "trying for a (gender) this time" is wrong wrong wrong. To paraphrase Mo's preschool teacher, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

All right. I've done with that. More ranting apathy to follow, I'm sure.